Search goes on for woman ‘swept away’
Three Coastguard rescue teams joined a resumed search yesterday for a woman believed to have been swept into an Aberdeenshire river amid torrential rain and the worst flooding since 2016.
It came as the Met Office issued Scotland’s first severe weather warning of the autumn for ice for that area for last night.
The maritime and coast guard Agency said it had been asked to send teams from Aberdeen, Macduff and Stonehaven to support the Police Scotland operation on the River Don at Monymusk, north-east of Aberdeen.
The woman is believed to have got into difficulty while attempting to rescue a dog. A Police Scotland spokesperson said :“searches are ongoing. we have nothing else to add.”
Monymusk Parish Church minister Euan Glen held a candlelit vigil for the woman, who he referred to as Hazel, in the church at 6.30pm last night.
The Met Office yellow warning for ice lasted from 8pm on Sunday to 9.30am today for most of Aberdeenshire and Angus, Aberdeen and the eastern edges of Moray, Perthshire and the Highland Council area.
It said :“a much drier and cold er night than of late with a frost developing quite widely over Scotland and ice likely to form on untreated surfaces.
"The north-east of Scotland will see the greatest ice risk, where surfaces are still wet from recent rain and run off from fields and higher ground. Fog or freezing fog patches are also likely to form overnight which will add to the difficult traveling conditions.”
Temperatures were expected to fall to -4C in places such as Aboyne and Huntly in Aberdeenshire. The alert followed a yellow severe weather warning for heavy rain for easternand angus until 3 pm on Sunday.
Eight flood warnings were also in force on Sunday across the area as well as in Perthshire and Orkney. They covered the River Don in Kintore, the South Esk near Brechin, Brothock Water in Arbroath, three on the River Isla around Coupar Angus, the River Earn south of Perth and the churchill barriers in Orkney.
Inspector Rory Campbell from Police Scotland said on Saturday: "Conditions are tricky and dangerous and I am appealing to members of the public to stay away from flooded areas.
The Scottish Environment Protection agency said brech in river levels on the South Esk reached their highest on record, while in Ballater the River Dee reached the second highest level ever.
Meantime, mo ff at and strathclyde Police mountain rescue teams helped recover an injured paraglider who had dislocated his knee when he was dragged along the ground while trying to take off from near the summit of Tinto Hill in South Lanarkshire on Saturday.
Justice Secretary and lead Minister for resilience Keith Brown said: “This was a serious flood event similar in magnitude to 2016’s Storm Frank, causing significant disruption in some parts of the country.
“As the clean-up gets underway, I want to thank local resilience partners and the emergency services for their ongoing work to ensure those communities most affected are kept safe, and urgently get the support they need.